Bolingey you posted this at 0830 this morning and you aren't happy that the match report wasn't on the website? It was by mid morning and to me that's perfectly acceptable, lets not forget there's a small dedicated team working their socks off at the Pirates and they too deserve some time off. Woll who writes the report does it for free and has to write it, edit it, proof read it and then give it to the team who then post it, it all takes time!! - IMO I think the new website is fine, it works well and looks slick and up to date. No complaints from me, but we're all entitled to our opinion.

I like the web site's design very much but did like the old site's very easy access to the news rather than having to click around for it. I have noticed on other clubs sites that the latest news is not always obviously available also.

Newlyn PirateI like the web site's design very much but did like the old site's very easy access to the news rather than having to click around for it. I have noticed on other clubs sites that the latest news is not always obviously available also.

On my iPad the new website looks horrible on the fixtures page.
I see all the spreadsheet headings and the page is a mess, making it hard to actually find the fixtures.
However on Dave's MacBook it is fine and fixtures appear clearly.
It would be good if the new website worked on all platforms.

Just had a look on my laptop, and frankly I am just as unimpressed.
For example, I had to click on 'news and fixtures' then again on 'news' to learn of the death of Stack Stevens.
On the old website, this very important and hugely sad event would have been on the front page.
This is just wrong, on every level.

The new website certainly looks more impressive than its predecessor although I found that searching for the information I wanted involved a greater number of key strokes. However, that's a minor criticism. Incidentally, terms like 'sub navigation' are not in my view particularly user-friendly.

There's no doubt the website needed a revamp and some serious updating. The club needs to reach out to more people in a way that is relatively inexpensive and I think re-doing the website was the right move. A little off-topic, but advertising-wise, the Pirates need to branch out, otherwise we're just preaching to the converted, so I think the website was a good place to start. It looks very posh and is easily the best looking in the league IMO. As many have pointed out; it could definitely do with some stream-lining in certain areas. I think the general layout of the homepage is nice, with the previous and upcoming fixtures there, and the latest news directly below it.

Going back to advetising, I'd been living in Cornwall for a total of five years before I was even aware the Pirates existed. I only heard about it through my father who persuaded me to come along to my first game (Pirates v Notts 2015/16), and I've since fallen in love with the sport and the club.

Sorry to ramble there, I get a bit carried away sometimes! Basically what I'm trying to say is the website update was a long time coming, and more methods of advertising are sorely needed, especially more adverts targetted at younger generations (I'm only a baby at 20 and rarely see folk around my age on match day.

..."only a baby at 20" maybe PP, but you talk a lot of sense, particularly about advertising and putting the club and it's brand about Cornwall, AND especially for the younger generation. This topic has been raised before, and I and my colleagues have discussed this need with various club officials on match days in the marquee, but nothing seems to change.
Anyway, enough of that one!!
........the new website...well, I'm inclined to agree with Aggie Pirate. I'm known by my friends as somewhat of a "technophobe" when it comes to matters I/T, so I've avoided commenting before merely leaving it to those better qualified than me. However, as an I/T "layman", I think it's a backward step for those reasons mentioned above.

piratepilotThere's no doubt the website needed a revamp and some serious updating. The club needs to reach out to more people in a way that is relatively inexpensive and I think re-doing the website was the right move. A little off-topic, but advertising-wise, the Pirates need to branch out, otherwise we're just preaching to the converted, so I think the website was a good place to start. It looks very posh and is easily the best looking in the league IMO. As many have pointed out; it could definitely do with some stream-lining in certain areas. I think the general layout of the homepage is nice, with the previous and upcoming fixtures there, and the latest news directly below it.
Going back to advetising, I'd been living in Cornwall for a total of five years before I was even aware the Pirates existed. I only heard about it through my father who persuaded me to come along to my first game (Pirates v Notts 2015/16), and I've since fallen in love with the sport and the club.

Sorry to ramble there, I get a bit carried away sometimes! Basically what I'm trying to say is the website update was a long time coming, and more methods of advertising are sorely needed, especially more adverts targetted at younger generations (I'm only a baby at 20 and rarely see folk around my age on match day.

Ramble over.

You are right about advertising - it's something many of us have been banging on about for ages. Even in Penzance you wouldn't know we had a rugby club if you are a visitor, let alone
that there is a match on a Sunday, but no improvement seems to appear from one season to the next.

Agreed, Stalwart. I've been suggesting for years now that, at the very least the club could try for a presence of leaflets with fixtures etc at the tourist office in Penzance and in hotels/B&B in the surrounding area?

interesting comments about the new website, although a little surprised by the comments about having to click around for the match report. one click is enough to reach the match report from the front page.suspect this

2nd attempt! interesting comments about the website, although a little surprised about "having to click around for the match report" one click from the front page is enough to reach the match report so I suspect its just unfamiliarity with the layout. The new website was designed specifically to be enabled from all platforms, especially mobile phones and tablets to reach the younger audience, so we will investigate why some of you have had problems on tablet.
As for advertising, we have contra deals in place for local media, Cornishman, West Briton etc, but that was halved by the media company for this season who have been cutting staff and arrangements like ours.
All of our games last season were advertised in each newspaper, this year we have had to reduce this, but still advertise across all of the local media papers in Cornwall to ensure our presence is noticed. To reach a wider audience, we also advertised digitally on Cornwall Live, the analytics demonstrated that the all important click through to our website to buy tickets did not warrant continuing with this medium. This Season, we have a regular advert in the Penwith Eye, which is distributed to 10,000 homes and businesses in West Cornwall each month. We have an advert in the monthly Business Cornwall publication. We regularly use social media, Twitter, Facebook and instagram to create a wide reach outside of the more mature demographic that currently attend the games.We have produced posters and posted these to businesses and as supporters, you can print the posters and ask local businesses to place them in the shop windows where you live. We also advertise within the local colleges and have an arrangement that the students pay less than the gate price to encourage a younger audience attendance. In addition, we have worked hard to create a presence on local TV reporting of our game, which now means we now usually feature on the Saturday & Monday sports report.
The RFU are trying to encourage a greater awareness of the Championship by streaming games via their own facebook links and the Pirates feature in number of our away games.
As has been suggested, we are a small team, with very limiting resources and achieve a great deal, to give coverage to the Pirates Brand and the exciting rugby within the championship that we play in Cornwall through the various mediums mentioned above.
All that has been said on these pages and in person, in terms of advertising,is an area that management is aware of naturally, we would like to do a lot more, but funding is limited. However, rest assured, we are constantly exploring ways to create more awareness of the Cornish Pirates and the high standard of Championship rugby to be found at the Mennaye on Match Day.

From the Bridge - what has happened to the A2 sandwich board that Dave and I bought and gave to the club? It was used to display posters in town, on the pavement outside The Front Room.
I understand the ownership of that establishment has probably changed, but I hope the board is going to be used somewhere to advertise fixtures.

You don't necessarily have to 'click around' for news stories. they are all on the front page of the website, scroll down past the previous and upcoming fixtures and all the latest news stories are there.

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